During the cold season, there is always the risk of a car battery draining. A specialized charger will help save the car from turning into a cooled real estate. Thanks to him, you do not have to, for the umpteenth time, seek outside help.
The reason why the car may not start at the most inopportune moment is a dead battery, and the onset of cold weather, among other things, increases this probability by several times. To prevent car owners from getting into such trouble, smart chargers were invented for car batteries.
Continuous improvement
To accurately determine which device is most appropriate for your car, you need to know the parameters of its battery, that is, its type, capacity and nominal value of the charge current. To date, progress in the manufacture of batteries is obvious: if ahead of time their service was on average about 2 years, but now this figure has confidently approached 5 years. But, despite the constantly improving manufacturing technology modern batteries, hoping that a battery with an eternal service life will be invented is by no means worth it.
No matter how high-quality the battery is, it will still need to be recharged periodically. And therefore, in order to support it in an always serviceable and charged state, it is necessary to have auto-charging in the garage or in the cabin. Moreover, today intelligent chargers for car batteries are not such a scarce commodity. And therefore, you can always choose and purchase a charger that is best suited in terms of parameters for your car battery. Judging by the reviews, no one has yet regretted the purchase made.
What are smart car battery chargers? General information
Before purchasing a memory, of course, you need to familiarize yourself with both the parameters of the battery your car, and with the parameters of the purchased device. The bulk of the batteries is of the lead-acid type, while the rest of its indicators are indicated by the manufacturer on the battery label.
Now let's look at smart car battery chargers in more detail. Of all the models currently on sale, two main types can be distinguished: transformer and pulse. Powerful transformer models are a reliable option, but gradually becoming exotic due to their overall size and some inconvenience in use.
More modern and therefore the best option- This impulse devices. The basis of this charging equipment is a switching power supply operating at a very high frequencies. Due to this, the dimensions of the device have been significantly reduced. Such devices are protected from moisture and short circuit. They have automated everything that could be automated. That is why they are called "smart", i.e. intelligent, car battery chargers. These models are best option to date.
How the charger works
The principle of operation of all is identical. The device is powered by the mains alternating current at 220 V and lowers its value almost to the nominal value, which is required for each specific battery, providing rectification.
In theory, a classic charger is presented as an automated control system. Well, schematically, this device is quite complicated, but the good news is that we just need to simply plug the plug into the socket and turn it off when the light on the indicator lights up and informs us that the battery is fully charged.
Intelligent chargers for car batteries. Application features for different batteries
Charging conditions for different types batteries are different. For example, lead acid batteries it is better not to allow it to completely discharge, and therefore frequent recharging is only good for them. Alkaline, on the contrary, require a full discharge, because for them it is insurance against a decrease in capacity, since they have the well-known "memory effect". But like acid, it is necessary to charge until it is fully charged.
Smart charging equipment
Let's compose small review smart chargers for car batteries. These devices are based on high-tech electronics, with the help of which manufacturers have managed to achieve a fully automated charging process. The program of the microcontroller installed inside the device includes a set of different modes and all sorts of defenses.
You just need to connect the device to the battery, and you can safely go about your business, only occasionally glancing at the indicator. When will notify you with a signal. What exactly the signal will be depends on which model you are using, perhaps it will be just a light signal, or maybe it will be a special inscription on the LCD screen.
Features of smart memory, pros and cons
Intelligent chargers for car batteries, information about which can be found in our article, have many advantages. One of them is the weight of such devices. Thanks to the use of modern radio components, the average weight this equipment amounted to about 600 grams.
The disadvantages include the fact that if such a charger fails, then it can be repaired only in a specialized service center, because in the absence of relevant knowledge, necessary equipment And software it is impossible to repair a device of this level on your own. Some of these devices you will not even be able to disassemble, as they are soldered entirely to completely prevent moisture from entering.
Take note of the fact that these devices will not be able to charge the battery quickly, they need time, that's how they are programmed. And therefore, if you are late for work or in a hurry somewhere, and the battery is not able to start the engine, you will have to wait for some time until the battery is recharged. To avoid similar cases Check your car's battery at least once a month.
Feature of Hyundai HY 400 Intelligent 9-Step Charger
Intelligent "Hyundai" is also designed to recharge vans, motorcycles, garden equipment, boats, etc. The charger is fully automatic and has 9 stages of the charging process. In addition, the HY 400 model provides 5 operating modes, including also the mode winter use and desulfation. These specialized modes are designed to quickly restore and maintain the battery in working condition, even in the event of its complete and deep discharge.
Moisture and dust protection of the charger - IP 65. There is an intelligent selection of current and voltage, as well as protection against overheating and incorrect connection. In addition to the above, there is temperature compensation and a tester built into the memory system with a voltage display function.
Also for car battery "Hyundai" has such features as backlit LCD display, memory function for 12 hours and indicator light. And it is also worth noting the excellent quick-detachable terminals of the device. The temperature regime of the equipment is 20-50 °C. The input voltage of the charger is 220-240 V, the output is 6-12 V, charging current- 4A RMS.
Smart Car Memory Reviews
What do those who already use smart chargers say for the most part positive. People note that although charging devices are expensive, they are really worth it. Someone tells how he was rescued by giving a charger for a while to revive a dead battery, and this person, using such a device for the first time, immediately decided that he needed the same one. It is difficult to overestimate the convenience and quality. Needless to say, the device is compact, does not take up much space, but works perfectly and flawlessly. With such a device, charging the battery has become no more difficult than recharging a cell phone.
Choosing an automatic charger
Of course, customer reviews when choosing a device are just as important as the parameters stated in the memory instructions. We present a small list of points that you should pay attention to when choosing smart chargers for car batteries. General Tips for models most suitable for Russian conditions:
Specifications that may be present in modern smart memory
Modern memory models are different good quality assemblies. These chargers do an excellent job with the task assigned to them (charging the battery). Some do it faster, others slower, but, to be honest, this is not really the main thing, the main thing is that the task has been solved - the battery is charged. Various indicators can characterize intelligent car battery chargers. Technical specifications V general view can be represented like this:
Own memory - getting rid of many problems
Some car owners believe that, in principle, they may never need smart car battery chargers. Describing the most common and common situations is likely to convince them otherwise. For example, a long forced parking of a car, especially in a cold winter period may cause the battery to discharge. It also often happens with the batteries of those owners who do not have the habit of turning off electrical appliances while the car is idle. In addition, unexpected trouble may occur while driving in city traffic or off-road driving.
In winter, a long parking of a car discharges the battery due to a decrease in the density of the electrolyte in the cold, as a result of which the necessary chemical reactions slow down. As a result, a significant reduction in the starting current is obtained, which, in turn, makes it impossible to start the car. As a rule, during hard frost the owner of the car has only one attempt to start. At this point, anyone will remember about intelligent chargers for car batteries, technical side a case tested in reality, as a rule, leads to a decision to take care of equipping your car in advance so as not to get into such troubles in the future.
Ensuring constant mobility of the car
Usually, while driving, the battery is constantly recharged from work. car generator. And, for example, many do not understand how off-road driving can harm. The reason is simple: when driving off-road, there is a threat of destruction of the battery plates, which, in turn, can provoke a short circuit and discharge the battery.
How traffic in traditional traffic jams affects battery life is also explained quite simply. In this situation, several frequent starts and stops of the engine are carried out in a fairly short period of time. And this is the threat of loss of battery capacity and a significant reduction in the time for its discharge. In the above situations, a car charger powered by 220 volts will literally become your salvation.
In any case, smart chargers for car batteries, the characteristic of which includes compact size, will provide your car with a timely charge of the battery. And I must say that it is not such an expensive pleasure to risk your mobility and comfort.
If you are going to buy batteries, but you don’t have a charger yet, or you want to buy a charger to replace the old one, then the question inevitably arises - which charger to buy, what to choose from a huge variety?
Why do you need a quality charger?
The service life of quality NiMH batteries at proper care behind them is an average of 3-5 years. The capacity of modern batteries is comparable to the capacity of expensive alkaline (Alkaline) disposable batteries, but unlike them, batteries can be used from 500 to 3000 times. The benefits of buying batteries are obvious!
In order for the batteries to serve for a long time and work efficiently, it is necessary to choose the right charger. A common mistake many buyers make is to buy expensive high-quality batteries and buy a cheap charger or use an old one bought a long time ago. As a result, even the most expensive batteries will quickly fail.
There are at least 3 reasons why you shouldn't skimp on your charger:
1. Cheap chargers can charge batteries extremely slowly - up to several days;
2. Cheap chargers do not allow you to control the charging process, they may not have automatic shutdown after the battery has finished charging. You have to "by eye" calculate the charge time, it is not convenient and not accurate - batteries can either be undercharged or recharged;
3. Cheap chargers do not have protection against overheating and overcharging of batteries, which shortens their service life.
All these factors negatively affect the quality of the batteries, as well as significantly reduce their service life.
Problems can be prevented or solved with a quality charger. Manufacturers offer a variety of chargers aimed at a wide range of consumers: from advanced users who want to have full control over the process and battery charging parameters, to ordinary buyers who do not want to know anything about the battery charging process.
What should be considered when choosing a charger?
When choosing a charger, pay attention to the following important points:
1. Availability of independent channels for charging each battery separately
Many cheap chargers only charge batteries in pairs. This creates a number of inconveniences in use. First, you need to make sure that the pairs of batteries that are used in devices are not confused. Secondly, many devices use an odd number of batteries that cannot be charged in such a charger. Have to look for some additional battery to complement a pair for charging, which is very inconvenient.
In addition, over time, the batteries in a pair begin to differ in capacity, which affects the duration and quality of the pair. The difference in capacity can reach such an extent that due to one undercharged battery, the steam practically stops working and it becomes impossible to use the batteries.
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4. The presence of the "discharge" function
The "discharge" function is very useful feature, which allows you to extend the life of batteries and maintain high performance their work. The fact is that batteries are considered discharged when the voltage on them is 0.9 volts, while many electronic devices turns off when the battery voltage drops only to 1.1 volts or more. When charging an incompletely discharged battery, over time, a “memory effect” appears, which consists in the loss of battery capacity and a decrease in the duration of its operation.
To prevent the "memory effect", it is recommended to completely discharge the battery before charging it. It is possible to discharge the battery with a flashlight or motorized toy, but there is a risk of over-discharging the battery. If the battery voltage drops below 0.9V, the smart chargers may perceive it as faulty and not charge it.
Therefore, to discharge the batteries, it is recommended to use chargers with the "Discharge" function.
When using batteries in toys or flashlights, do not allow deep discharge batteries. If you see that the battery is already dead (the flashlight shines dimly, the motor in the toy spins weakly or the sound is distorted) - replace the batteries.
5. Availability of additional functions and features
Currently, the most popular are intelligent chargers that allow you to independently set the charging and discharging currents of the batteries, overclock the battery capacity, measure and restore the battery capacity.
Buying such a charger makes sense if you use batteries all the time and need to be sure of the capacity and performance of the batteries, or if you just like to experiment and explore. Also, such a charger is a great gift for anyone who uses batteries.
Intelligent chargers:
Separately, it is worth noting the intelligent chargers of the device, which are equipped with various additional accessories: AA and AAA batteries, travel bags, adapters. The quality of complete batteries and accessories is usually quite high, and the cost of batteries in a set is usually lower than the cost of similar batteries separately. Therefore, buying chargers with accessory kits can be very beneficial.
Intelligent chargers with accessory kits:
Among smart chargers, advanced chargers can be distinguished. These chargers are distinguished by the presence of additional functions and capabilities: screen backlight, measurement of the internal resistance of batteries, a wide range of charge and discharge current settings, manual installation the number of charge / discharge cycles for training / overclocking.
Advanced chargers:
6. Ability to work with batteries of different formats and sizes
If you are using batteries different types(Ni-MH, Li-ion) and different sizes In order not to buy a separate charger for each type of battery, you can purchase a universal charger that is suitable for charging several types of batteries. Universal chargers are no worse than individual chargers for each type of battery. In terms of functionality, they can also be either simple, which simply charge batteries, or advanced, which can charge, discharge, test and train batteries, and measure their capacity. Universal chargers combine the ability to work with Ni-MH batteries in sizes AA, AAA, C and Li-Ion batteries in sizes 18650, 14500, 16340, 26650, etc.
Universal chargers:
7. Ability to work with a large number of batteries
There are situations when it is necessary to charge many batteries at the same time - 6 -12 or more. It is quite obvious that the use of the most common chargers for 4 batteries in this case inconvenient, the charging process takes a long time and requires extra attention. Using multiple chargers can also be an inconvenient solution to the problem. ROBITON VolumeCharger
8. Super-fast chargers.
More and more are on sale Li-ION batteries with high load capacity, for electronic cigarettes, power tools, powerful flashlights. In most cases, these batteries can be charged quickly without affecting their lifespan. For these purposes, special chargers are produced that allow the use of maximum charge currents for Li-ION batteries:
As a summary, it can be said that in order to charge high-quality batteries, it is advisable to purchase a high-quality charger that will provide long term battery life and performance. Choose the optimal charger, which in terms of its functionality will allow you to work with your batteries at the level you need. Before buying, it is also advisable to consider whether additional functions will be useful to you in the future, even if you are not going to use them now.
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At present, electronics manufacturers for power supply more often use batteries based on lithium technologies: lithium polymer ( LiPo), lithium-ion ( Li-ion). The advantage of such batteries is that they have a large specific capacity, low self-discharge, the ability to deliver high currents during discharge, and such batteries are made of any shape and size. To charge these batteries, special chargers are needed.
Standard Batteries
Consumers often purchase devices that run on standard AA or AAA batteries. They can be replaced with conventional batteries and no special charger is required. Less and less often appear, previously used NiMH batteries. They have a capacity of 40% more than NiCD batteries. NiMH batteries are getting better every day. For example, if earlier their self-discharge was high, now some batteries have a minimum self-discharge.
Battery Charging Methods
When a battery is charged, chemical transformations take place in it. The energy that comes during charging, part of it is spent on these transformations, and part is converted into heat. NiMH batteries heat up more when charging than Nicd because the chemical reactions that occur when it is charged are exothermic.
The charge rate of the battery depends on the amount of charging current. The charging current is measured in units of C - the numerical value of the battery capacity. There are several types of charging:
drip charging (trickle charge) - current 0.1 C
fast charging(quick charge) – current 0.3 С
fast charging(fast charge) - current 0.5-1.0 С
Drip charging
With drip charging, a small current is chosen, because charging continues even if the battery is charged. With such a low current, the battery does not heat up so much. It is impossible to accurately determine the end of the charging process here.
Fast battery charging
Such charging with a current of 1C is not recommended for all batteries, because the battery vent may open at high temperatures environment(up to +40). When fast charging, you need to stop the charging process in time.
The fast charger operation algorithm consists of several phases:
1. Determining the presence of a battery
2. Battery qualification (Qualification)
3. Pre-charge (Pre-charge)
4. Transition to fast charging (Ramp)
5. Fast charging (Fast charge)
6. Top-of-Tcharge
7. Maintenance charge
Battery detection phase. Here, the voltage at the battery terminals is checked with the charging current generator turned on, approximately 0.1C. If the voltage is 1.8 V, the battery is missing or damaged. At high voltage charging should not start as soon as it is detected low voltage, charging will start. In the remaining phases, a battery presence test must be carried out, because in any phase the battery can be removed and the charger must return to the first phase.
Battery qualification phase. This phase starts charging the battery. This phase is needed to estimate the initial charge of the battery. Judging by the voltage on the battery, you need to determine whether pre-charging is needed or not.
Pre-charge phase. This phase should not last more than 30 minutes. The pre-charge phase is required for deeply discharged batteries. For all long phases, temperature control is required, it should not exceed 60 degrees during charging.
Phase transition to fast charging. It is not advisable to immediately turn on the fast current, it is better to gradually exceed it within 2 minutes. Fast charging can be started if the battery voltage is above 0.8 V.
fast charging phase. The most important thing in this phase is to stop the charge in time, otherwise the battery will collapse. To stop charging in time, you can use several methods to determine the charge.
For NiCd batteries the dV method is used - this is the fastest method for determining the charge; by the end of charging, the voltage on the battery decreases.
For NiMH batteries The dV method doesn't work so well. And use the dV=0 method. Here, the constancy of the battery voltage is detected. If within 10 minutes the voltage is the same, then it's time to turn off the charging.
Also, the end of charging can be determined by temperature, since by the end of charging, the pressure inside the battery rises and the temperature rises. Some chargers use pulse instead of DC. Current pulses last 1 sec. The advantage of this method is that it better equalizes the concentration of active substances throughout the volume, reduces the likelihood of the formation of large crystalline formations on the electrodes and their passivation.
Charging phase. In this phase, the charging current should be 0.1-0.3 C. The duration of recharging is 30 minutes, then there will be a recharge. After quick charge it is better to cool the battery and then start the process of recharging.
Maintenance charge phase. D.C harmful to the battery, as the battery will constantly have high temperature. After the end of charging, NiCd batteries go into drip mode to maintain the charge. And NiMH batteries do not tolerate overcharging and therefore maintaining a charge will do them little good. In principle, you can do without this phase.
Super fast charge
You can use current up to 3C. When the battery is 70% charged, reduce the charge and continue as normal. If this is not done, the ultra-high heating of the battery will destroy it or even explode.
"Smart" charger
Batteries of the same form factor. For example, AA size NiMH batteries have a capacity of 1900-2850 mAh, and AAA size batteries have a capacity of 750-1100 mAh. The charging current should be proportional to the capacity of the battery. When charging with a large current of a battery with a small capacity, there will be heating. When charging with a small current, the charging time will be long. In general, the charger must control the current, that is, use a large current for batteries with large capacity and small current for less capacitance. This is the meaning of a "smart" charger.
Charger power off problem
If the charger is powered off during the charging process, a transition to the battery presence detection phase should occur when the power is turned on. In this case, the charging starts again and the recharging will be carried out completely. The disadvantage of frequent recharging is that it can turn into overcharging. A "smart" Li + battery contains a controller that measures the amount of charge.
Primary current sources
Primary current sources are batteries (alkaline and manganese-zinc). The difference between primary sources and batteries is the internal resistance, which is higher for primary sources. If the internal resistance is greater than normal, the charging process will be interrupted.
Memory effect and battery recovery
The memory effect appears in NiCd batteries. The meaning of the effect is that large crystalline formations are formed on the electrodes, as a result, part of the volume of the active substance of the battery is no longer used. A full discharge is recommended to eliminate the memory effect. Such a complete discharge is recommended to be carried out in NiMH batteries before charging them. It will be better if you have a charger with a discharge function.
Interaction of batteries in an assembly
Separate accumulators in batteries can have different characteristics . Batteries that have a lower capacity will be destroyed during the discharging of the assembly. And each battery in the battery must be charged separately, but in the finished assemblies there are only two outputs and only a joint charge is possible. In this case, alignment is required.
one of the real significant benefits Android smartphones is to support fast charging technology. The iPhone, although it holds a charge well, but charging the “seven plus” to 100% is not a fast process. Flagships with a green robot are much better at this: modern fast charging technologies allow you to get several hours of work in just a few minutes of charging. But despite the fact that the technology is far from new, it is not yet present everywhere, and many people have questions about the principles of operation. What is fast charging for a phone, how it works, how to use it, let's try to explain in more detail.
Modern smartphones use lithium-based batteries. There are lithium-ion (Li-Ion) and lithium-polymer (Li-Pol) batteries, the difference between them is physical properties electrolyte filling the cell ("jar"). However general principle one: inside are available thin electrodes, and the space between them is filled with electrolyte.
When current is applied to the electrodes (which are positive and negative, + and -), physico-chemical reactions occur inside the battery, leading to the accumulation of an electric charge. When a consumer device is connected to the battery, reverse chemical processes occur, and the accumulated charge is given to the consumer. The flow rate of these processors is limited: the battery cannot be charged infinitely fast (there is a current limit, after which the speed no longer increases, and the cell begins to degrade), and cannot be discharged very quickly (the output current is limited by the reaction rate).
How does the battery charge
The physics of lithium batteries is such that the speed of their charge in a smartphone is limited. more features charging equipment than the cells themselves. Theoretically, the maximum charge current (not harmful to the battery) can be a current equal to the battery capacity (expressed mathematically as 1C, where C is “Capacity”, “density” in English). That is, if the capacity of the "can" is 4000 mAh, then it can be charged with a maximum current of 4 amperes (4000 mA). It sounds good: with such a power, it would take only 1 hour to charge up to 100% of some Meizu M5 Note.
But in practice, there are several restrictions that slow down the process of replenishing the smartphone with electricity.
- Need in soft start charging process. You can’t just take it (there should be a picture with Sean Bean as Boromir) and submit it right away maximum current on the battery: still, what good, it will swell or bang. Therefore, for a short time at the beginning of charging, it is required to smoothly increase the current to the maximum allowable.
- . As the charge is replenished and its density increases, the chemical processes inside the battery begin to proceed faster. Many will remember from a school chemistry course that the higher the rate of a reaction that occurs under conditions of excess energy, the more energy goes into heat. If thermal energy is released very quickly, overheating, electrolyte boiling and cell explosion will occur (hello Galaxy Note 7). Even if the battery does not explode, overheating harms it: the battery inflates, and its capacity decreases. To prevent the battery from overheating, as the capacity is replenished, the charge controller gradually reduces the current strength, thereby limiting the energy supply.
- Cable resistance. As is known from the same school course (only now not chemistry, but physics), an increase in current strength leads to an increase in the resistance of conductors. With an increase in resistance, they lose conductivity, and as a result, the lion's share of the energy will be spent on heating the contact circuits before reaching the battery. An ordinary cable that connects a computer or TV contains two or three thick cores (more than 1 mm in diameter), and therefore can withstand currents up to several amperes without overheating. When such currents are applied, the thin strands of the charger cable will simply overheat and burn out in the weakest area (for example, in the place of frequent bends). Therefore, the cable also interferes with high-speed charging.
- . Like the cores of the charging cable, the tracks on the smartphone's motherboard are very thin, and therefore, when currents are applied great strength they will overheat and burn out. As a result, manufacturers have traditionally limited the charging current to 500-1000 mA (0.5-1 amperes), and in this situation it takes at least 4-8 hours to charge a 4000 mAh battery in Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro.
Fast charging - what it is and how it works
Fast charging is a conventional name for a set of technologies and techniques designed to increase the speed of battery charging by eliminating or bypassing the above restrictions: charging start and end currents, the resistance of the charger conductors and the smartphone itself. In order to make the charging process faster, manufacturers use several tricks.
- The need for a smooth start of the charging process virtually eliminated: modern chemical compounds, used in batteries, "swing" very quickly, and as a result, the battery can be charged with full current (1C) in about a minute after power is applied to it.
- The need for a smooth decrease in the charging current For lithium cells basically irremovable. It is impossible to make sure that the battery is constantly charged with a current of 1C up to 100%. Here the task is reduced to finding methods to minimize the time required for charging in the reduced current mode. Intelligent charge controllers analyze the state of the battery to determine when to charge it powerful currents is no longer possible, and they begin to limit the supply of energy.
- Cable resistance overcome by using high-quality conductors from an oxygen-free core. Connectors are also being improved: their downforce increases by creating tighter contacts, and resistance losses are reduced by gold-plating contacts. Due to this, the resistance of the wires is reduced, allowing more amperes to be supplied.
- Board track resistance It is “treated” in a similar way: wide and thick tracks are used in power lines, and charge control chips are made resistant to high currents and voltages.
But it will not work to increase the current indefinitely, since even an ideal cord, due to its small thickness, will get very hot at high currents. Since the power is equal to the current multiplied by the voltage, along with the amperes, the voltage also increases. That is, charging with a voltage of 5 volts (V) and a current of 2 amperes (A) has the same power as charging with a voltage of 10 V and a current of 1 A, namely 10 watts.
The task of a charger with fast charging support is to supply high power, choosing the optimal ratio of volts and amperes. The task of the charge controller is to monitor the battery and tell the power supply what voltages and currents can be applied to the smartphone.
Based on the foregoing, several components are important for organizing fast charging in a smartphone:
- High-quality battery, designed according to the most modern technologies, and does not require a long "buildup".
- A special controller that will analyze the state of the battery, determining what voltage and current can be applied to it in this moment.
- A well-implemented charging circuit inside the smartphone: a good connector, thick tracks, a hardy controller.
- Power supply with support for fast charging, capable of supplying large currents and voltages.
- High-quality cable with durable oxygen-free copper conductors and reliable connectors.
The combination of these elements allows you to quickly charge your smartphone. If some components are missing, there will be problems with the implementation of an accelerated charge.
Poor quality charging cable prone to overheating The battery capacity of modern smartphones is constantly growing, but power consumption is also increasing. An increase in battery capacity has a positive effect on autonomy, but leads to an increase in charging time. If a device like the first iPhone or HTC HD2 could be charged from a USB 2.0 port in 2 hours, now some Lenovo Vibe P2 will require about 10 hours. To reduce the time spent on charging, manufacturers are actively implementing support for the fast charging function.
Fast charging in a smartphone is a technology that works on the principle of increasing the current that is supplied to the battery from the power supply. Initially, power supplies for charging mobile devices gave out a voltage of 5 V with a power of 500-1000 mA. But with such parameters, theoretically, in an hour, you can replenish more than 1000 mAh of smartphone battery capacity. In practice, this value is even less, since the more the battery is charged, the more it is necessary to reduce the current strength.
The very first way to speed up the charging process was to increase the current strength. Early technology made it possible to deliver up to 2 amps of current, at a voltage of 5 volts, which gave a power of 10 watts. However, it turned out to be difficult to move further in this way: thick wires are required for high currents, since the resistance of the cores depends on this. With a low-quality cable, even 2 A is not easy to get, as drawdowns will occur.
It is problematic to use a cable with a large cross section, so the manufacturers decided to go by increasing the voltage while maintaining the same current strength. However lithium batteries require voltage in a narrow range to charge, it is impossible to apply “clean” 12 V to the contacts. To solve the problem, special charge controllers have been developed that are built into the chipset or on motherboard. They accept voltages above 5 volts, converting it to the optimum for battery cells.
Types of fast charging for smartphones
In order to increase the speed of charging, smartphone component manufacturers are developing new fast charging technologies. Qualcomm offers QuickCharge, MediaTek has a rival PumpExpress, and OPPO has a counterpart called VOOC. Samsung offers users Fast Adaptive Charging. Asus smartphones support Asus BootMaster, Motorola supports TurboPower, and Huawei supports SmartPower.
The current generations of QuickCharge and PumpExpress are capable of using different voltages, power supplies can deliver from 5 to 12 V. Charger interacts with the charge controller, from which it receives "hints" about what current and voltage should be given out at the moment. Can be used as step regulation (5, 9, 12 V, etc.) or smooth (from 3.2 to 20 V, in 200 mV steps, used in QuickCharge 3.0).
Since the chipset is responsible for wireless charging, the type of technology used depends on it. The methods of Qualcomm, Samsung, Mediatek, Huawei, that is, companies producing chipsets, can be considered independent. VOOC from Oppo stands apart. It is implemented through the use of multi-cell batteries that can be charged in parallel. Due to this, you can “fill in” 2500 mAh in just 15 minutes.
Other fast-charging technologies are usually QuickCharge-based variations with a different name. But in general, they all use the same principle: first, the power supply gradually increases the current and voltage, selecting the maximum possible parameters, then maximum power charging takes place up to 50-70% of the capacity, and then there is a smooth decrease in current and voltage.
Is wireless charging harmful in smartphones?
Lithium (lithium-ion and lithium-polymer) smartphone batteries are sensitive to charge strength. Use of poor quality charger, charging and discharging with excessive high currents can reduce their resource, so there are statements about the dangers of fast charging.
In fact, the power controller is a rather complicated device that is able to select optimal mode refill capacity. While the charge density in the battery cell is low, it selects the maximum possible power charging. With an increase in density, the chemical processes in the battery accelerate, heating increases (and it is he who harms). The controller detects this and reduces the power supply to prevent overheating. As a result, temperature regime maintained normally, the negative impact on the battery is minimized.
Can a smartphone explode due to fast charging?
News about smartphone explosions often pops up on the Internet, and horror stories about the fact that this happens due to fast charging are very common. In theory, this is indeed possible, but often the problem is not in fast charging technology, but in faulty equipment. Using low-quality power supplies and cables, using smartphones with a damaged battery, a deformed case, etc. - these are the main causes of explosions and fires.
To avoid a fire, explosion or simply swelling of the battery, it is enough to follow a few simple rules. Do not cover an infected smartphone with a pillow or other object, leave it to charge on a window sill or car panel heated by the summer sun. It is also not recommended to use cables and power supplies of dubious origin.
